Women of Color in Elective Office 2018

Congress, Statewide, State Legislature, Mayors

For information on the history of women of color in elective office click here.

Congress

39

Of the 110 women serving in the 115th U.S. Congress, 39, or 35.5%, are women of color; in addition, a Black woman, a Latina, an Asian Pacific Islander, and a Caribbean American woman serve as Delegates to the House from Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands, respectively. Women of color constitute 7.3% of the total 535 members of Congress.

36 D

3 R

U.S. Senate (4)

1

Latina - (1D)

Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV)

2

Asian Pacific Islander - (2D)

Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI)

1

Multiracial - (1D)

Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA)

U.S. House (35)

19

Black (18D, 1R)

Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC)
Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA)
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH)
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE)
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
Rep. Val Demings (D-FL)
Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)
Rep. Brenda Jones (D-MI)
Rep. Robin L. Kelly (D-IL)
Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI)
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
Rep. Mia Love (R-UT)
Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI)
Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL)
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ)
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL)

9

Latina (7D, 2R)

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM)
Rep. Nannette Baragan (D-CA)
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA)
Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA)
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA)
Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA)
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)

7

Asian Pacific Islander (7D)

Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA)
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI)
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)
Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA)
Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY)
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL)

U.S. House Delegates (4)

1

Black (1D)

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

1

Latina (1R)

Del. Jenniffer Gonzalez(R-PR)

1

Asian Pacific Islander (1R)

Del. Amata Radewagen (R-AS)

1

Caribbean American (1D)

Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-VI)

Statewide Elective Executives

9

Of the 74 women serving in statewide elective executive offices, 9, or 12.2%, are women of color. They include one of the first two women of color to serve as governors, Susana Martinez. Women of color constitute 2.9% of the total 311 statewide elective executives.

5 D

3 R

1 NP*

* Non-partisan

3	Black (2D, 1R)	4	Latina (2D, 2R)	1	Asian Pacific Islander(1D)
	Jenean Hampton (R-KY), Lt. Governor Denise Nappier (D-CT), State Treasurer Sheila Oliver (D-NJ), Lieutenant Governor		Nellie Gorbea (D-RI), Secretary of State Susana Martinez (R-NM), Governor Susanna Mendoza (D-IL, Comptroller Evelyn Sanguinetti (R-IL), Lt. Governor		Betty Yee (D-CA), State Controller
				1	Native American/Native Alaskan (1NP)
					Valerie Davidson (NP-AK), Lt. Governor

State Legislators

456

Women of color are 24.3% of the 1,875 women state legislators serving nationwide. They constitute 6.2% of the total 7,383 state legislators. Crisanta Duran (D-CO) is currently the only woman of color serving as a Senate president or House speaker. She is also the first Latina to serve as a House Speaker, assuming that office in 2017.

429 D

26 R

1 Progressive

	Black			Asian Pacific Islander			Latina				Native American			Totals
	D	R	Tot.	D	R	Tot.	D	R	Prg	Tot.	D	R	Tot.	D	R	Prg	Tot.
Totals	272	3	275	36	8	44	105	11	1	117	16	4	20	429	26	1	456
Senate	69			11			29				3			112
House/Assem.	206			33			88				17			344
States	42		All except AK, HI, MT, NE, SD ND, VT, WY	17		AZ, CA, GA, HI, ID, IL, MA, MD, MI, NH, NY, OK, PA, TX, UT VA, WA	27		AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, MA, MD, MI, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OR, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV		9		AK, AZ, KS, MN, MT, NM, OK, OR, WY	Women of color serving in all states except: ND, NE, SD

Mayors

10

In the nation's 100 largest cities, ten women of color currently serve as mayors:

Black	Latina
Muriel Bowser (D), Washington, DC, 2015-present	Mary Casillas Salas (D*), Chula Vista, CA, 2015-present
Catherine Pugh (D), Baltimore, MD, 2016-present
Sharon Weston Broome (D), Baton Rouge, LA, 2017-present	Asian Pacific Islander
Vi Alexander Lyles (D), Charlotte, NC, 2017-present	Lily Mei (D*), Fremont, CA, 2016-present
Keisha Lance Bottoms (D*), Atlanta, GA, 2018-present	Karen K. Goh (R*), Bakersfield, CA, 2017-present
LaToya Cantrell (D), New Orlenas, LA, 2018-present
London Breed (D*), San Francisco, CA, 2018-present

*Elected in nonpartisan races.